The Church Girl and The Witch Child
by JohnStrider19
Summary: (Sorry I couldn't really find a category that this fit into, but this is an original of mine that I decided to post here for you guys!) Eva wasn't sure what was going to happen when she moved to this small town, but she was NOT expecting this. (GirlxGirl Don't like it leave now. Any hateful reviews will be deleted.)
1. ONE

I sat in the back of the car, drifting in and out of my parents conversation. It was about the sudden shower that had started not two minutes ago.

We followed the moving vans in front of us to our new house through the small town. I stared out the window, still sad about leaving our old church.

A flash of movement caught my eye, making me focus through the rain. What I saw confused me and made me curious at the same time.

It was a girl. Dancing in the rain. I sat up and watched as she spun around on her bare feet, arms out with her head tipped up.

We stopped at a sign with a squeak. The girl spun to a stop and looked over at us.

Her wet black hair clung to her pale cheeks and neck, rain dripping off her nose and lashes. I felt my face go hot as her eyes met mine.

I know she was looking at me. And I know she knew I was watching her.

Because her lips parted in a large, bright smile. Before I could react, she turned and darted to a huge older house.

We moved again as she disappeared inside. "Eva?" Mom looked back at me. "Look. It's your new school." She pointed to the castle like structure.

It fit into the beautiful small town. I, however, probably never will.


	2. TWO

Our house was only a couple blocks from the school, so I would be riding my bike to and from each day. But, for the first three days, I was unpacking boxes in my new room.

Though moving sucks, my room is much bigger. All the rooms were at least three times bigger than our old house.

And there was a certain...charm about this house that made me love it instantly. The first night was the hardest.

I hardly got any sleep. And when I did, I dreamed of that dancing girl.

On Monday, I wore a knee length white skirt and a yellow blouse, my silver cross gleaming against it. Pulling on my white ballet flats, I took a deep breath.

I left my long chestnut hair down to sway at my waist. A minute before I left my room, I sent a silent prayer to God, asking for strength.

Mom hugged me at the door. Daddy was already gone at work. I walked down the steps and turned to the corner where my bike sat.

I climbed on and hung my back pack on the handles before I took off. In a free hour I'd had after church yesterday, I'd walked to the school and had found the bike racks.

So, finding my way there was easy. I climbed off and grabbed my bag. From it, I took my bike lock and the key.

I shuffled my bike into the rack and locked it up, slipping the key into my bra for safe keeping. The bike next to mine made my mouth fall.

It was slender and black, green vines painted along the body. The wheels were about five inches taller than mine.

But what I was frightened by was the snake locking it to the rack. I wanted to touch it to see if it was real, but I was too scared.

If it was real, I'd be risking loosing my finger. Maybe even my life.

I noticed there were no other bikes on the same rack, let alone next to it. How weird.


	3. THREE

I picked my way through the halls and found the office with a little help. The woman behind the desk smiled at me. "I like your cross." She tucked her hair behind her ear, exposing her black cross earrings.

"Thank you. I'm here for my class schedule." She typed at the keyboard rapidly. "Eva Gray." I murmured softly.

"Ah. There it is. I'll call a student in from your first class to show you the way while I print out everything." She clicked a few things.

A printer groaned in the corner next to her. She dialed a cordless phone as she stood up and grabbed the papers. "Hi Jane. I have a new student for you in the office. Can you send one from class to come get her?... Okay. Bye." She hung the phone and waved me forward. "This is your class schedule, the times the periods start and end, you locker number and the combination." She highlighted each in a different color.

"Thanks." I took them and sat back down. I looked over each once.

"Your classmate should be here soon. If you have questions, you can ask them or a teacher." I nodded silently.

Neither of us had heard the door open. "Ms. Davis sent me." The soft voice made me jump slightly.

A tall girl stepped in the office. Everyone was taller than me though. Her long soft brown hair curled down the back of her purple shirt.

"Eva, this is Joyce." I stood as the girl turned to look at me. Her blue eyes gleamed brightly against her cream skin.

"Hi." She beamed at me I smiled back, putting my bag back on. "I love your cross. I wore my charm bracelet today." She held her arm out for me to see.

Crosses and small pictures hung from the thick silver chain. She waited for me at the door. "So is this a big christian town?" I asked, curious.

"Pretty much, yeah." She shrugged. "There's only one family who isn't. The youngest girls actually go here." An odd look crossed her face. "They're freaks."

"Freaks?" I stopped, remembering the bike. "How so?" She came closer to me.

"They think they're witches. I mean come on! How crazy can you be?" I didn't answer.

The word was crashing around in my head. Witches. "But witches aren't real." I breathed.

"Tell that to the Hart family." She stared walking again. "One of them is actually in our class. Nobody talks to her. It's actually really sad. They're both really pretty."

I was only half listening to her now. "Do they ride bikes?" I asked thoughtlessly.

"The older does. The younger one usually walks." I nodded. "Why?"

"Just curious." I sighed.

"Be careful. I heard that the last fuel who was 'curious' about them is still in the mental hospital." I froze to the spot.

She walked about ten feet before she noticed. "Eva?" I shook myself and ran to catch up to her.


	4. FOUR

I sat next to Joyce in our English class. The Hart girl sat in the corner. There was a three desk gap on either side of her

She didn't seem to mind though. Actually, she seemed to embrace it.

All through the class period, I'd throw quick glances over my shoulder back at her. Only once was she looking back.

I instantly froze in my seat, eyes locked on hers. It wasn't the same girl I'd seen before.

Her hair was just as dark, only longer, brushing her shoulders with every move she made. And she was just as pale.

The smile she gave me sent fear skittering through me. It said that she knew more than I, or anyone in the room, did.

She looked back down, her hand flashing along the paper under it again. "Sage?" Ms. Davis's voice xarried back.

The whole room looked to the girl in the corner. "Yes?" She looked back at . She looked so calm.

"What did you get for number five?" Nobody looked away from the girl. She picked up her paper and cleared her throat.

"Describe Guy Montag." She read the question. "Brave as he was, he still hid his differences from those around him out of shame and fear. And that made him the biggest coward of all."

People looked away with scoffs. I bit my lip to keep my mouth from falling open. The bell rang, making me jump.

"Keep your papers." Sage was at the door before Ms. Davis had finished speaking.

I closed the paper in my notebook and followed quickly. In the very short time it had taken me to get to the door, a group had gathered.

In the middle, Sage was pinned to the floor, a book not far from her. I pushed my way to the front.

Her eyes were open, staring at the girl on top of her. I couldn't make out what the girl said over the screams of 'fight'.

After a moment, the girl stood, kicked Sage in the stomach and picked up the book. "Next time watch where you walk freak." The girl sneered and left.

Sage curled in on herself tightly. "Move!" A sharp voice came a second before the girl did.

It was her. The dancer. She and her sister wore similar clothes.

Bright and dark colors. "Sage?" She fell to her knees by her sister. "Sage." She took her hands.

"N-ix?" Sage coughed. A smile crossed Nix's face. A smile I knew. The smile that I'd dreamt of. She ripped open her bag and pulled a small pouch out of it.

I watched curiously as she closed Sage's habds around it. She slipped her hands under Sage's shirt as Sage buried her face against the pouch.

All the kids screamed and ran away as Nix's mouth began to move, bumping me around in their fear. I stayed behind, watching the sisters.

After a moment, Nix recoiled from Sage as her body relaxed. "Is she okay?" I whispered.

Both girls snapped their heads up to look at me. Nix's face was twisted with pain. I started forward to try to help, but Sage's glare stopped me. She grabbed the bags and helped Nix up

Bouncing against Nix's hip was a small pink bag. As they passed me, a heavy smell made my whole body tingle.


	5. FIVE

I stood there for a long moment, my body still wrapped up in that smell. After what felt like seconds, the bell rang. I blinked and saw people running off to class.

Shaking myself, I ran to my next class, out of breath by the time I reached the door. I opened it and I was instantly confused.

I was in a long, dark hall alone, only a few lights leading the way. At the end of the hall was a door that was propped open with a can of paint.

Frowning to myself, I made my way to it and poked my head in. There was a large room with tables scattered around, kids sitting at them. I turned into the room and saw a small set of stairs that led straight to where the short teacher was talking.

"-and today we're going to be going outside to find inspiration for sketches and - oh!" She smiled up at me. "Class, we have a new sturdent!" She held her hand out toward me.

I stood by her side, biting my lip. "Everyone, this is Eva. I expect you to welcome her. Johny, can you grab her a sketchbook and a set of pencils?" She asked.

A boy stood up and scurried around the room, opening drawers. He came up to us and handed the book to me, placing the case on top of the book, giving me a small smile before he sat back down.

"Thank you Johny. Eva, my name is Sarah. You can call me Sarah or Ms. W. But I am never Ms. Webber." She placed her small, strong hand on my shoulder. "If you want to take your seat, it's at that table in the corner." She waved her hand.

The table she gestured to was almost empty, a sleeping boy the only one there. "Your other table mate must be sick or late..." As she said that, a chill ran down my spine. "Oh, speak of the kid and she pops up."

"Sorry I'm late Sarah." I turned my head, looking at the stairs. It was Nix. She flew down the stairs and stopped next to me.

I could feel the heat rolling off of her body. "It's okay. We're going outside to do some sketches. I would like it if you'd make sure Eva feels at home, okay?" She pushed me toward Nix, who smiled at me and held out her hand.

Her wrist was bruised, like someone had grabbed it tightly. "Hi. I'm Nix." She beamed. The air seemed to still around us in this dingy room.

I could feel the whole classes eyes on me. And I swear I could hear some sort of wild, exotic drum music. I took her hand and the world seemed to breathe again. "I'm Eva." I breathed, suddenly light headed.

"Okay!" Ms. W clapped her hands together behind me, snapping me back into reality. I let go of Nix's hand, hugging my book and pencil case to my chest. "Let's scatter everyone." I heard the smile in her voice. "Eva, I want you to stay close to Nix. No need for you to be getting lost, right?" I nodded.

Nix smiled at me and took my hand, pulling me up the stairs. She let go of me once we were in the hall, her whole being relaxed. My eyes flicked down to her hip where that little pink bag bounced.

"So, have you been around campus yet?" She asked, making me jump. I looked back at her, my face going red when I realized she'd been watching me.

"Not really." I admitted, looking at my feet.

"There's some really cool places. I'll show you. One I think you'll really like though." I looked at her again from under my lashes.

She was grinning brightly, her eyes watching the hall in front of us. Suddenly there was a blast of cool air and we were outside.

I blinked in the sudden light. Nix sighed happily, the air lightening and warming as she did. "Follow me." She smiled at me and started to walk to the East side of the building.

Not knowing where we were going, I followed her. Her shoulders were relaxed, her black t-shirt striking against her pale skin.

Her short hair was blown by a breeze I couldn't feel. She stopped in front of a tree and pulled a hair tie off of her wrist.

Holding her hair in one hand, she tied it up into a lose bun. I noticed there was a tattoo on the back of her neck.

I wanted to ask, but she was grabbing a low branch about half a foot over my head. "Come on." She smiled down at me as she pulled herself up into the tree.

"Nix!" I called as she vanished in the branches. I sighed and slipped my book into my bag before i grabbed the branch and hefted myself up. A strong hand met my elbow when I almost fell, pulling me onto a branch

"Easy there." Nix said, her voice calm. "We have to go higher if you want to see what I was talking about." I nodded.

She let go of me and grabbed branch after branch, scaling at least fifteen feet in seconds. "Come on!" She called, resting her weight on three different branches leaning forward to look down at me.

I followed her exact path, knowing that the branches were strong enough to hold my weight. When I stopped in front of her, she smiled.

Her hand wrapped around my waist and turned me around, my feet leaving the branch they'd been on. I gasped, trying to find my footing. She held me securly until I did. "Look." She pointed.

We were almost level with the top of the school. The morning sun was partly blocked, shining over the building like a crown of buttery gold. "Wow." I gaped, my hands tightening on the branch that kept my balance.

"I thought you'd like it." Nix breathed, moving out from behind me. "You can see the whole town from up here." She sighed, her head turning to the North. "There's my house." She pointed.

My eyes followed her finger and instanly found the house. It was an old, tall house, the wood unpainted. There was a turret tower and a huge, scaling fence that wrapped around the backyard. "Why the fence?" I asked without thinking.

"I'm sure you've heard the rumors." She sighed and sat on a fat branch. One was close behind it, serving her as the back of her natural chair. "And I'm not sure if you've heard the main one or not." She looked me in the eyes, hers sparkling. "You have." She looked away.

"Do you guys really think you're witches?" I asked softly, sitting on the branch I'd been standing on.

"We are." She didn't get mad. Her voice was calm. "It's evident from our birth to our death. But the fence is for the town's 'protection'." She put air quotes around protection.

"Protection from what?" I asked, crossing my ankles.

"Protection from exposure to our-" She was cut off by Ms. W shouting for us.

"Nix! Eva! Where are you two?!" She called. Nix crawled along the branch, breaking through the leafs that hid us. "Oh my God! Nix, you're going to fall and break something! Come down!"

"We'll be down in a minute." Nix called back. She dropped down to the branch under where I sat.

"Wait. Exposure to your what?" I asked, but she just shook her head.

"Don't worry about it. We need to get down there before Sarah calls the the fire department. That'll be the last thing I need." She sighed and started down.

I turned to follow her. In what felt like forever, she jumped out of the tree with a huff under me.

My foot slipped on a branch and I fell. I braced myself, ready to hit the hard ground. Instead, I was caught in a set of arms. "Easy." Nix laughed as she set me on my feet. "Ya know, you're really clumsy." She shook her head at me and started away, following the rest of the class.

I trailed behind them, studying her. The sun shined off of her hair, the black turning blue and purple in the light. Her unfinished sentence bounced around in my head, making my bite the inside of my cheek.

Exposure to what?


	6. SIX

I didn't have Nix or Sage in my last two morning classes. By the time I made it to the lunch room, almost every table was full. Warm sunlight heated the room, shining in through the high windows and glass doors.

As I picked my way through the room, bag lunch in hand, I spotted a circle table that seemed perfect. It was empty and bathed in a beam of sunlight.

I sat down and the whole room seemed to gasp. Ignoring it, I opened my bag and pulled out my food. The chairs across from me scooted out and in as I flattened my bag. I looked up and froze.

Nix and Sage sat there, pulling containers out of matching lunch bags. They didn't even seem to notice me as they spoke. "I'm just saying that with Samhain so close, we need to be careful." Sage insisted.

"I know, Sage." Nix sighed, pulling out a set of chop sticks and opening a container. "They've been keeping tabs on us longer than you've been alive. Especially around Samhain and we-" She finally noticed that they weren't alone. "Hey Eva. You're at our table?" She asked, her face a mask of shock.

Sage turned her burning eyes on me, making me flinch. "Well, aren't you brave?" She laughed. The room fell silent, tension rolling through the air.

"She is welcome here, Sage." Nix touched her sister's arm lightly. Sage didn't look at her sister as she nodded, not taking her eyes off of me. "Just pretend you didn't hear any of that, okay?" Nix smiled brightly at me.

I nodded, not able to speak of move under Sage's watch. "Sage, eat. Aunt Cas made us poor man's fried rice." Nix pushed Sage's container closer to her.

She looked away from me finally, opening her food and grabbing her own chopsticks. Like that broke the silence, the room began to move again around us. I opened my sandwich container and lifted it out carefully, not wanting it to fall apart.

It felt like the whole room was watching us as we ate in silence. Suddenly, the sky darkened, the sunlight getting cut out by thick clouds.

The room dropped several degrees at the loss of the sun, making me shiver. I looked around the room. Everyone was staring outside, backing against the far wall.

Nix and Sage shared a look and sighed, closing their containers and standing up. I looked outside, wanting to know what was going on.

Wind whipped the several trees, making limbs fall and tumble along the ground. "We can't have a normal day, can we?" Nix sighed as the sisters made their way to a door among the many windows.

In the chaos outside, I saw them. Two cloaked figures stood, waiting, not a hundred feet away from where we were.

Nix and Sage walked calmly to them, their hair flying in the wind. A branch flew toward Nix who, like it was second nature, moved her hand, deflecting it without even touching it. It flew over her and Sage in a high arch only to fall back to the ground.

As they met the cloaked figures, they took off their hoods. One was a normal looking man, the other a beautiful woman. They kneeled in front of Nix and Sage.

Nix said something, her mouth moving. The man and woman nodded and suddenly the wind stopped though it remained cloudy. After a few minutes of them speaking to each other, the man and woman got up and bowed deeeply.

Nix returned it with a small bow. The man and woman turned around and lifted their hood back over their heads. I noticed that they wore black gloves. As the couple left, the clouds vanished, seeming to follow them.

The girls watched after them until they were nothing but two small, black dots in the distance. Then they turned around and cme back inside, combing their fingers through their hair and fixing their clothes.

As they returned to the table, screams of fear and distain rang out in teh room. "What the hell was that?!" A girl shrieked.

"Devils walk among us!" Another girl cried as the girls opened their food again, clearly ignoring the kids around them. A shower of trash rained down on them, none of it hitting me.

They ate through it until an unopened can of pop hit Sage in the back of her head. Her head snapped forward into her rice.

Slowly, she lifted her head and wiped the loose rice from her face. "Hey!" I stood up, facing the mob of kids. "They might be different, but that's a hate crime!" I screamed, pointing at the dented can on the floor. "You could have really hurt her!"

"Stupid humans!" Sage snarled, lurching to her feet so fast her chair fell next to her. "We didn't cause that! We _stopped _it!" She screamed at the top of her lungs. Behind us, the windows rattled.

"Sage..." Nix whispered, her tone full of an unspoken warning.

"No!" Sage snapped at Nix. "I am sick of this!" She touched the back of her head. Her fingers were bloody when she pulled her hand out of her hair. "Is this what you want?!" She held it high for eveyone to see.

Some people gasped, the others letting out cries of fear. I turned to Nix, whose face was lined with worry and nerves. She stood up and grabbed Sage's hand.

She pulled it down so she could look at it. "Hold still." She started to grab something from her pocket. Sage snatched her arm out of her sister's hand.

"No! I don't want you to heal it. I want proof." She said. "Pack up our food and meet me in the Head Master's office." She looked at me and then at my food. She took my brown bag and, using it as a glove, picked up the can that had hit her. "You come too." She looked me in the eyes.

"Okay." I touched her shoulder. "I'm with you on this." She smiled at me.

"Thanks." I looked at Nix, who was almost finished repacking their containers. Sage walked away, the crowd splitting for her like the Red Sea.

"Thank you." She said as she grabbed the rest of their stuff. I left my untouched food there on the table among the trash that had been thrown. The crowd parted for us. I saw Joyce watching me with fearful eyes.

Had she thrown the can? "For what?" I asked Nix as we walked, heading up a set of stairs.

"You stood up for Sage. Usually the kids who aren't a part of the crowd hide." We stopped outside of the Head Master's office. "Thank you. It's going to get you hell though." She sighed.

"I just did what is right." I said, opening the door. I could hear Sage, her voice piercing.

"Either you call the police or I will. I have a witness, fingerprints and a head wound." Her voice was calm but sharp.

"And who is your witness? You're sister?" The Head Master laughed. I couldn't bite back my tongue.

"No. Me." I stepped forward, standing beside Sage. "And if you don't call the police and have whoever threw this can arrested for their hate crime, I will go to the news _and _the poilce. And there will be a full investigation as to why a teenage girl took more initive than the school's Head Master. We wouldn't want that, now would we?"

The Head Master's whole face had slowly turned red as I spoke and he looked like he wanted to yell at me when Nix stepped up beside me. "We have the law and evidence. Do you really want to take this to court? I know our aunt you be more than willing to sue. Actually, we've been holding her back, but now, with Sage getting hurt so badly, I'm not sure we can..." She trailed off with a heavy sigh.

His face paled as she said the words 'sue' and 'court'. I smiled at them. Sage wouldn't let the can out of her sight when he asked for it. "So you can wipe it off?" She laughed. "Oh no, I'm not stupid." She turned the bag inside out, the can getting trapped in the bag as she twisted it shut.

He lifted the phone off the cradle and dialed the number for the police. In minutes, there were seven officers in the room.

They pulled us each aside and asked what happened. They took the can Sage had been hit with, moving it from the bag she'd used to a plastic one and zipped it shut, took pictures of her head and took our names. "We're going to take this to the lab and figure out who threw this at you, okay?" One one of the officers touched Sage's shoulder.

"We won't be letting it slip through the cracks. This is a serious hate crime." I smirked at the Head Master, who grew even paler that the word. "And you want to press charges on whoever threw it?" The officer asked Sage.

"Yes." Sage said, her voice strong. Blood was still dripping through her hair, soaking the back of her white shirt. "Now I just want to go home." She wavered on her feet. Nix put her arm around her waist and held her upright.

"My sister is a witch. There will be no bias on this. I give you my oath." He bowed to Nix and the fading Sage. "Can you heal her?" Nix nodded. "Do it quickly. She's loosing a lot of blood."

"Can you please take us home?" Nix asked them, her voice, for the first time, was tired. "I just need to stop by my locker first."

"We'll take you there." The officer who'd been talking about healing Sage stepped forward, another at his side.

"Eva, can you come too? I don't want to let Sage out of my sight but I can't carry her and open my locker at the same time." I nodded and followed her and the officers to her locker.

She gave me the combonation and the locker popped open. "Can you hand me my back pack?" I helped her strap it over her shoulders as she held Sage in one arm then the other. "Thanks." She smiled at me.

"I'm coming with you guys." I said without thinking. Nix looked at me. "You're my friends. I'm not just going to stay behind while Sage is hurt." I shook my head.


	7. SEVEN

I bit my lip hard during the short ride to the Hart house. We stopped outside, Nix lifting Sage into her arms.

The porch wrapped around the whole first floor, including the turret room. Nix shfited Sage's weight onto her leg as she pressed her palm to the door.

It swung open instantly. "Please wait down here." She looked at me and the officers as she turned to an exposed flight of stairs.

In seconds, she was gone, leaving me and the officers to perch awkwardly on the various, mismatched chairs. I jumped at the high pitched scream of pain from upstairs.

Trying to distract myself, I looked around the room. It was normal for the most part. Pictures lines three walls, all of what I assumed was family. The wall with the fireplace had a large framed picture of a beatiful, tanned woman in a white dress, some kind of head piece on top of her head.

Hanging all around it was pictures of Nix, Sage and people I didn't know. All were dressed in some kind of draping clothes, smiling brightly, dancing, or in a circle. "That must be the East facing wall." One of the officers said across the small space.

"Huh?" I looked at him.

"My sister said that any proper witch will have their East facing wall dedicated to their Goddess and their family." He smiled at the picture of the woman and stood, kneeling in front of the fire place.

"Blessed be, Mighty Isis." He whispered, standing up as Nix came down the stairs, heavy on her feet. She'd put a black beenie on over the back of her head, trapping her hair under it.

"Blessed be indeed." She smiled at the officer, her voice light. "Thank you again for everything. I'm going to stay with Sage and make sure she gets rest."

The officer who'd spoken to the picture made his way over to Nix and took her hand, his hand wrapping around her wrist. She did that same. "Thank you for welcoming us into your home." He smiled at her and let go of her hand. "In case you need any more help." He pulled out his wallet and handed her a card.

She took it in her fingers and slipped in into her pocket without looking at it. "May Isis watch over you." She touched his shoulder before they left. The door shut, echoing through the house.

Nix sighed and took off her beenie, seeming to forget that I was still here. Inside was lined with tissues stained with blood. She kneeled where the officer had, bowing her head.

I saw her bloody scalp and gasped. "Isis, please watch over Sage and the officers helping us. Keep them pure of heart and mind." She said without looking up.

Her body shook violently and, in front of my eyes, her head healed, her skin stitching together. "Thank you Isis." She whispered.

"Nix, are you okay?" I asked, touching her shoulder. She sat back on her heels and smiled at me.

"Yes. So, your first day was rather eventful, huh?" She stood up, towering over me. "You should probably go back to school."

I glanced at my watch and saw that there was only mere minutes left of the school day. "I'll live." I shrugged. Nix smiled brightly.

"You might not tomorrow." She sighed. I frowned. "You sided with the witches. The enemy." She said like I should have known. "That's not exactly a usual occurance."

"It doesn't matter what you are." I said, my voice hard. "You're my friends. And someone hurt Sage." I waved my hand toward the stairs.

Nix smiled sadly and nodded. "If only the world actually worked like that." She sat on the couch, slumping back against the puffy cushions. I sat next to her. "In our world, the witch one, I mean, we stand by our actions instead of hiding in shame. Because we know that, while not all of our actions are the right thing, Isis is guiding us."

"Why do you put up with it? Why not move?" I asked, facing her.

"The Hart family has lived here for centuries. If we leave, we leave our history behind." She sat up. "And that is like losing our pride. To move out of fear?" She spat. "That isn't something we'd ever do." She shook her head. "The town grew around us, not that any of the people living here will admit that.

They're too busy with their nose in their bibles to notice what we actually sacrifice for them." She shook her head. "Believe it or not, you're the first girl that has ever been inside our house." She looked at me. "And I'm grateful for that. Most people stop on the sidewalk to throw trash and tp the house."

"Why do they hate you so much?" I asked softly. Her eyes glistened with tears.

"They call us devils. They think we're here to kill them and bring about the end of the world. If any one of them knew what we do, they'd fall to their knees at our feet and beg for forgivness. But." She sighed heavily. "They can never know."

"Never know what?" I asked. She opened her mouth when the clock on the wall chimed.

She gasped. "She's home." She lurched to her feet and looked at the door.

"Who?" I asked, standing next to her.

"Aunt Cas." She breathed at the door creaked open.


	8. EIGHT

I don't know what I expected to see when the door was pushed open. A fire breathing dragon in a dress?

But, behind the door was a tall, thin woman with waist length black hair that rippled like waves in the ocean. She turned her angelic face to look at us, her painted red lips parting in a wide smile, her white teeth nearly blinding me.

My fear was doused in a splash of awe as I looked at her. She was the most beutiful woman I'd even seen. She must be a model. "Aunt Cas." Nix said, her voice rough. She cleared her throat quietly and put her hand on my shoulder. "This is my friend, E-"

"Eva Gray." Her aunt finished, smiling at me. "Your family just moved to our little town not a week ago, and your father still works back in the city while your mother takes care of the house." My knees gave out and Nix caught me, lowering me to the couch.

She sat next to me, holding my arm. "I am Cassandra Hart. But you can call me Cas or Aunt Cas." She held out her well polished hand to me. I reached back, her hand closing around my wrist. "Merry meet, Eva. We shall become very close in the time to come." She grinned and let go of me.

"So, how was school?" She asked, sitting her purse on the table before she kneeled in front of the fire place.

"Sage..." Nix started but didn't finish.

"She got hurt, didn't she? Isis showed me what was going to happen in a dream last night. Thank you, Eva, for staying by my girls." She said, standing up again.

I couldn't speak, my throat tight. "So, you're not afraid of us?" She asked, sitting across the room from us. She crossed her legs and rested her hands on her knees. "No, you're not." She shook her head. "You're not sure what to think of us."

"How do you-" I started.

"How do I know all of this?" She asked, leaning forward. Some of her hair tumbled forward over her shoulders, framing her face in a black ocean. "Our Mother gifted me with great intuition. And gifts me every so often with dreams of the future. Visions, if you will."

"So you're like a profit?" I asked without thinking. She laughed, the sound light.

"I supposed you could say that." She nodded, flipping half of the hair that had fallen foward back over her shoulder. "Only what she tells me won't save the world. It can only save us." She set her green eyes on Nix.

I looked at her as well, reading the unease in her face. She didn't look at me, her eyes locked on her aunt's. "Nix has visions as well." Cas started.

"Eva, shouldn't you be going home? Won't your mom be getting worried?" She asked me, pulling me to my feet quickly, standing next to me.

"Eva, you're invited over on Samhain." Nix shot her aunt a glare and shook her head. "The girls and I would love it if you came over."

"Samhain?" I asked, looked at Cas as Nix started to pull me to the door.

"You probably know it as Halloween. Please, come over as soon as you can on that day. You'll be in for a treat." She said before Nix slammed the door shut behind us.

"What did she mean, a treat?" I asked as Nix pulled me off of the porch by my hand.

"Just ignore Aunt Cas, okay?" She shook her head. "She's far too open." She looked at my confused face. "You don't have to come over on Samh- Halloween." She changed the word.

"But I want to." I said softly. It was in two weeks. Nix's face went blank.

"Really?" I nodded. "Okay. We'll talk about it more when it gets closer, okay?" I nodded again.

When we walked together away from the house, I bit my lip hard. Did I just invite myself to a witch's house on Halloween. "Should I be nervous?" I asked softly as we rounded the corner to my house.

"Maybe." She didn't lie, at least. "I'll see you tomorrow." She stopped on the corner and bumped my shoulder with her elbow.

"Okay." I watched her go. The sun seemed to follow her. As she walked away, I felt empty inside. "Nix!" I called after her. She tuned around, alking baackwards. "Never mind!" I shook my hand. "I'll see you tomorrow!" I waved.

She grinned and waved back. I watched her until she rounded the corner before I headed to my house.

My mom was sitting in the living room, watching the news on the flat screen. "The weather was so weird today, Eva. Did you notice anything?" She looked at me as I started up the stairs to my room.

"No." I lied. I'd witnessed it first hand. She let out a small 'huh' as I ran up the stairs to my room. "Some first day, Eva. Befriend witches, stand up for one of them against the whole school and jip the rest of the day to g to their house." I whispered to myself, taking my bag off.

I flopped on my bed and stared at my ceiling. Before long, I fell asleep. I wasn't sure if I was dreaming or if what was happening was real. It seemed so real.

_Nix stood in front of me in a flowing red dress that draped over her shoulders. She ran her hands down my arms, which were bare. Goosebumps rose under her touch, covering my arms._

_I looked down and saw that I was in a dress much like hers, only a deep shade of green. Her hands closed around mine and she pulled me closer to her. _

_Our bodies pressed together as she hugged me, her chin resting on the top of my head. I looked up, making her pull back slightly. She smiled at me and bent down, her lips touching mine. _

_The sound of drums filled my ears, lights flashing over my closed eyes. Nix kissed me softly, her hands holding me tighter against her. I groaned and put my arms around her neck, pulling myself closer to her. _

"Eva! Dinner!" I gasped and sat up, pushing my hair out of my face. My heart was racing.

"I-I'm not hungry Mom!" I called back as I lay back on my bed. It had gone dark outside, stars dotting the sky. The dream played over in my head.

I touched my tingling lips. Now, I've never kissed anyone aside from my family, but that felt real.

What if I had my first kiss with a girl? The thought made my face burn. I rolled over, wanting to go back to sleep.

Back to the dream, if I was being honest with myself. But my heart was still pounding heavily. "Nix, I think you might be stealing my heart." I whispered, pulling a pillow over my face.


	9. NINE

I walked to school the next morning, my parents not bothering to ask about my bike. It was still locked up next to Nix's in the rack. Is she here already or is it here because she never got it last night?

Biting my lip, I waited by the bikes. Kids rode past me, nearly clipping me. I ignored the muttered insults.

A small group had gathered around me, waiting. Murmurs drifted through the crowd, some making me bristle. Those were about 'me being her fag lover'.

I grit my teeth. _Nix, please come._ Silence echoed in my ears suddenly and I looked up.

A black herse was pulling up along the curb not ten feet from me. The door opened and out stepped Nix, her face pale.

Cas was in the driver's seat, smiling at me. I felt my cheeks go red. The crowd parted like the Red Sea for Nix. She gave me a tight smile and held her hand out to the snake lock on her bike.

I forced myself to stay still as the snake _moved_, wrapping around her wrist and flicking it's tongue over her skin. She slipped her bike out of the rack and pushed it to the back of the herse.

She opened the doors and threw it in. Only then did I notice she didn't have her back pack with her. She climbed into the passenger's seat and slammed the door shut.

Over her, Cas waved goodbye to me before peeling out of sight. I was alone.

Fear gripped me as my stomach dropped. I was alone. What was I going to do?

I squared my shouders and made my way into the school. Into my self made hell.

If the Hart girls can do this, so can I.

I told myself that class after class. Sage's desk was painfully empty in English. Nix's empty seat in art seemed to have a spot light on it.

At lunch, I sat at the empty circle table, feeling glares on my back. Trash was thrown at me and thankfully I wasn't hit by anyting worth while.

I ate through it, ignoring it all. "Go to hell fag!" A boy screamed. Okay, that's enough. I stood up, my chair falling back.

Silence rang out, the metallic crash of the chair the only sound. "Even if I were lesbian, I wouldn't be going to hell!" I said, keeping my temper capped. "If anything, all of you will be. Outcast a family for what? Being different? Am I their only friend out of all of you? Are you seriously going to let your parent's fear guide the way you all feel? I don't know about you, but _my_ God." I looked around the room, meeting everyone's eyes. "The God I love, He loves everyone. No matter how different they are!"

With that, I grabbed my bag and left the trash pile. Nobody said a word or threw more at me. I made my way to my locker.

Written on it in red chalk was, in bold letters, FAG LOVER. I stared at it for a minute before I turned to the bathroom and grabbed a handful of paper towles and wetted them down.

I shoved the door open as hard as I could, slamming it into the wall, making the wood shutter. Standing in front of my locker, I scrubbed the hateful words off. By the time I was done, my hands were stained red.

Throwing away the dripping red knot in my hands, I opened my locker and grabbed what I would need for the rest of my classes and went to hide in the library.

The librarian looked at me and smiled. "Hi." I said, grabbing my arm nervously. "Is it okay if I eat in here?"

"Of course if you clean up after yourself." She smiled brightly. I grinned back and sat at a long table that came up to my chest when I sat. "I don't get many visitors aside from the advanced students checking out books. Do you liked to read?" She asked as I opened my brown bag.

"Yes." I smiled at her. She stood up and went to a bookshelf like it called to her. I studied her as she moved. She wore a short, pleated navy skirt and a billowing cream peasant shirt. Her long hair was loose down her back, falling in soft brown curls at her waist.

And, for a second, I thought I knew her. Or that she reminded me of someone in the easy way she moved.

Who did I know that moved like her? It hit me as she turned to smile at me again. Nix moved like that.

"Not everyone here is hateful, sweetheart." She said as she scanned the shelf. "And the Hart family aren't the only witches in town." She said as she sat a thick book on the table in front of me, her voice lowered.

I'm sure she saw the question mark in my eyes, because she pushed her bell shaped sleeve up her arm to expose a black tattoo on her pale skin.

It was of a circle with a star in the middle, the point facing her wrist. My mouth fell open as I reached out with my finger to trace it. "She has smiled upon you, Eva." As she said this, my finger tingled.

Her eyes seemed to be lit with an inner fire, making the blue sparkle. "I commute a good hour every day so I can watch over the Hart girls here. I was heartbroken when I heard about Sage. She's been pulled out of school. Her aunt is going to homechool her." She sighed. "What a waste. She's a genious." She shooked her head, her hair bouncing as she did so.

"What about Nix?" My mouth had gone dry. Why?

"I haven't heard anything about her. I hope we don't lose both of them though." Her expression darkened. "Can you do me a couple favors, Eva?"

"It depends on what they are." I said honestly. She smiled at me.

"Fair enough." She laughed. "I want you to read this book, keeping a _very_ open mind, and come back here every day for lunch so we can discuss whatever questions you have. And I need you to keep this." She touched her tattoo lightly before she pulled her sleeve back down. "A secret. If word got out, I'd be fired. And the girls would have no protection at all."

She held out her pinky. "I can tell Sage and Nix though, right?" I said, looking at her hand.

"Nobody. This will be our secret, okay? I know that the girls are...talented in the craft and will sense that you're keeping something from them. They might even be strong enough to touch your mind. But I don't know that yet. I will tell them, when the time is right." I wanted to ask, but the look on her face screamed that it was a bad idea.

I wrapped my pinky around hers. She moved her hand off the book finally and I saw the title.

WITCHES : A DEEPER LOOK INTO THE MAGIC OF THE WORLD

My mouth felt so dry that I was sure my lips were cracking. "Okay." My voice cracked. I looked at her again and she was beaming at me. "What did you mean when you said 'She has smiled upon me'? Who is _She_ exactly?"

She opened her mouth right as the bell rang. Shaking her head, she stood up. "My name is Rowan. But when there's someone else in here, you;ll have to call me Ms. Smith." She pushed in her chair. I rushed to clean up my spot as students filled the hallway past the panes of glass that formed the wall behind Rowan's desk. "And remember." I looked up, gathering my half eaten lunch and the book in a different hand.

I watched as she wriggled her pinky finger and put her index finger to her mouth. "Oh, put this on the book. Nobody will ever know." She tossed me a small blob of black.

It was a book sleeve. I slipped it on the book. A perfect fit.

Tossing my lunch in the trash, I made my way to my next class, clutching the book to my side.


	10. TEN

For the rest of the school week, Nix didn't come back, making me more and more anxious. I was surprisingly left alone, only notes left taped to my locker like 'REPENT SINNER' and 'YOU'RE CRAZY'.

I tore them up and trashed them. Lunch passed peacefully. I would go to the library and talk to Rowan.

Every night, I would read a chapter of the book she gave me and ask my questions the next day.

From what I've read so far, paganism has better morals than Christianity. It was all about loving everyone, no matter who they were or what they've done.

By protecting those who need it and deflecting those who seek to torment. Something this town needed so desparately. Rowan would smile and explain terms to me like 'circle' and 'elemental titans'. It almost felt like a weird English class with other worldly vocabulary words.

Friday after school, I rode past the stately Hart house, torn between stopping or going on. I couldn't force myself to stop, fear gripping me tight.

That evening, a thunderstorm raged, plastering leafs against my window and making the trees dance. Lightening lit my room, followed by Earth quaking thunder that shook the house.

Something made me get up and put on my rain coat and boots and go outside. It was nearly eight and pitch black out with the storm, only sudden jolts of lightening and dull street lights guiding my path.

On my walk, I let my mind wander as the street filled with branches rushing down the gutter in the torrents of rain. Before I knew it, I stood on the corner of the Hart's block. I hid behind a light pole, the storm helping hide me.

In the front yard, all three of the Hart girls stood on the lawn, looking into the sky. As one of them moved, I had to squint my eyes to see what she was doing.

It was Nix. She lifted her arm to the sky and twisted her hand. Lightening burst above her in the clouds, thunder cracking not a second later.

Cas and Sage watched, their whole bodies soaking wet. I watched with them, too shocked to do anything else.

Nix did it again and again until she finally let her arm fall to her side. Then Sage copied her, getting about a half dozen jolts out. I swallowed hard as Cas lifted her hand, ready to cover my ears if it was louder than the others.

One twist of her hand and the whole sky lit up, lightening streaking in all directions as thunder roared louder than anything I'd ever heard. It made my heartbeat freak out a little with...fear?

No. Excitement. I got a thrill out of that, and I didn't understand why. My heart racing, I turned and headed home.

About a block away, I did something silly. I lifted my hand as I saw them do and thought hard about lightening.

I jumped as a bolt shot out across the sky. Not above me, like theirs. It came from their house.

My hands were shaking as I hung up my wet coat and took off my boots. "Did you have a nice walk?" Mom asked as I started for my room.

"Yeah. The weather is crazy." I smiled to myself as I took to the stairs. If I felt like this now, just watching them do something so amazing, what was going to happen in a week if I went to their Halloween thing?

In my room, I opened the book and went to the front where the chapters and the discription was listed. Almost instantly, I found what I was looking for.

CHAPTER EIGHT : A GUIDE TO THE WITCH CALENDAR

I flipped to it and read well into the night. When I glanced at my alram clock, I saw it was nearly three in the morning. The storm had quieted to a peaceful rain.

With a yawn, I closed the book on the bookmark and sat it on my bedside table. I reached up and turned off my lamp before I pulled my blanket up to my chin.

In my dream that night, a pinwheel blew in front of me. When it slowed to a stop, the weather around me would change and a word would flash over the wheel.

With Yule and Imbolc, snow covered the ground, the tree bare overhead. I could hear a crackling fire and smell bread baking.

For Eostre and Beltaine, flowers bloomed and bees buzzed around me. Sun filled the blue sky, touching the budding leafs of the tree.

I saw heat waves and smelled cut grass with Litha and Lammas. The tree swayed, covering me from the harsh sunlight.

Mabon spun out next, the tree's leafs instantly changing as the sky darkened. The grass was turning yellow around me, patches of green showing through.

And finally, Samhain flashed. The sky was pitch black and The tree had candles places around the trunk. Drums filled my ears, same as the first time I met Nix. In the distance, I heard a woman's voice.

She sounded strong and sure of what she was saying, but I couldn't make it out. I turned and only saw darkness.

In panic, I turned back to look at the pinwheel, at the lit tree, only to find pure black in their place. I was alone...

My eyes shot open as I gasped. Fear ran through my body and I had a very bad feeling.

Like I was a puppet on strings, I got up, changed and brushed my hair. It was cloudly past my window, the street covered in downed branches.

I ran down the stairs, not bothering to answer mom as she called my name. Swinging the door shut behind me, I let my body be pulled toward Nix's house yet again.


	11. ELEVEN

This time, I didn't stop on the corner or on the sidewalk. I was tugged forcefully up the walkway made of stepping stones and onto the porch. My hand was knocking before I could stop it.

The door opened quickly, making me jump. Cas stood there, beautiful as always. "Eva?" She asked, her eyes confused. "What's wrong?" Her face instantly fell.

"I don't know. I just felt kinda pulled here." I was more aggitated now than on the run here. "Where's Nix?" My throat closed around the question.

"Upstairs in her room." She stepped aside to let me in. "Third floor, second door on the right." She said as I headed to the stairs.

"Thank you." I huffed as I took the stairs two at a time. "Third floor..." I muttered, passing the first two landings. "Second on the right..." I paused at the door.

It was a dark wooden door with what I now know as the Triple Goddess mark on it, embossed in the wood. I didn't knock, only opened the door and slipped in.

Nix was in bed, her knees pulled to her chest. She was crying into her pillow. I sat on her bed, my eyes solely on her.

Like tunnel vision. I pulled the pillow from her arms, making her jump. Something wet touched my finger, and I assumed it was tears. I looked and saw blood.

"Nix..." Her wrists were lined with cuts, not deep enough to kill her, but enough to bleed. She gaped at me and I realized.

This was the first time I'd been in her room. The first time I'd seen her weak. The first time I'd seen her cry. "Are you really here?" She asked, reaching out to touch my arm.

Her blood dripped onto my leg and I was happy I'd pulled on a pair of dark jeans. "Of course I am!" I huffed. "Why did you do this?" I asked, sitting her pillow on the bed behind her. She sat up, still staring at me like I would vanish any second. "Nix!" I snapped my fingers in front of her face.

"I..." She looked at her arms. "I'm sorry." She closed her eyes. More tears slid out under her lashes. As I watched, her arms healed up, only thin pinky lines remaining under the blood.

She wiped her arms on her sheets. "I'll wash my bedding later." She waved it off, staring at me again. My heart was pounding in the back of my throat. "Why did you come?" She breathed.

I swallowed hard. "I felt like something was pulling me." I frowned. "I'm not sure what. I just felt like something was wrong. And It led me here."

She pulled me into a hug, burying her face in my neck. I froze in her arms, not sure what to do. "I'm sorry you saw me like this." She said into my neck.

That snapped me out of my shock. I hugged her tightly. "I'm not." I breathed. "But I don't understand why I felt like I was going to puke if I didn't come." I said as she pulled away.

She bit her lip. "I don't really know." She shook her head and looked around her room. "Sorry it's a mess."

I hadn't noticed. Now, I looked around. The walls were all painted lavander, Christmas lights strung around the top of them all around the room.

Against one wall there was a desk, a door next to it. I assumed it was her closet. Her dresser was white, with a vanity mirror on it, and it was againt the wall opposite her bed. In the same corner, there was a tall black bookshelf full of books.

One shelf was filled with binders labled with numbers going from one to fifteen. I stood up and went to the shelf, pulling out the binder labled one.

She didn't stop me as I opened it, only looked at her arms in her lap. The first page was blank, but when I turned it, A page was labled one in the top right corner. DISCORD was at the top of the page, the rest of it full of a handwriting that made me slightly dizzy just flicking over it.

"You write?" I asked, looking at her. She nodded. I flipped to the last page. It was labled two hundred eighty three. The backs weren't labled. Almost six hundred pages...

"Each one is it's own book." She was suddenly in front of me. "All in longhand." She smiled at me. "Discord is the first." She closed the binder and put it back with the others. "Then Disdain, Decite, Disillusioned, Darkness..." She trailed off, running her fingers over the binders.

"What's the last one called?" I asked as her hand stopped on it. She looked at me for a long moment before she answered.

"Death." I swallowed hard at the look in her eyes. She pulled one, Discord, back out and sat it in my hands. "You can read them, if you want." She smiled at me. "It's a series, so..." She shrugged, dropping her arm.

"Okay." I smiled back. "Are you still going to school?" She bit her lip. "I kinda made a big scene in the cafeteria Tuesday and since then I haven't really had any problems..." I trailed off at the look in her eyes.

It was one of pity. "Yeah, I'm still going. I was pulled out for the week for the court hearing. Monday they're going to be sending police in to arrest the girl who threw the can on charges of attempted murder." I gaped.

"How can the charges be that strong?" I gasped. She frowned.

"Eva, it was a _full_ can of pop. She wouldn't have thrown it if she didn't want one of us to get seriously hurt. And even if it hadn't busted Sage's head open, it could have bruised the crap out of her back. And with the pictures I took on my phone, they couldn't try to say that her head was okay."

"Didn't they look at her?" She nodded.

"Yeah. And they tried to argue that her head had no kind of scrape on it. Until I cut myself and healed it on camera. One of the guys working thought it was some kind of trick, so he let me do it to him and freaked out when it came up on my arm and healed." She sighed.

"How does that work, exactly?" I asked, sitting on her bed, Discord in my lap. She sat next to me and pulled her leg up under herself.

She stared at me for a long time, her eyes caculating. "I'm trying to find words to explain it." She sighed after a moment.

"I guess the easiest way is by saying it's magic." She laughed. "But, because my healing abilities are far greater than yours or, well anyones, really, I can pull any kind of wound or pain to myself and it will heal almost instantly, sometimes leaving small scars that fade over time." She shrugged.

I nodded, actually understanding what she said. She smiled and took my hand. "Ya know, you're the first human who has ever been in my room. It must be weird for you, yeah?"

At her words, I took another look around, only now noticing the potted plants in the window, stretching toward the sun and floor. A little table was full of rocks and plants and a...knife? All surrounding a small statue of Isis.

Her personal alter. Chapter one of the book I'd been learning from. "Not really." I shrugged. "What kinds of plants are those?" I asked, leaving Discord on the bed to look at them.

She followed and the plants moved to her. "Mugwort, sage, bay. Ummm..." She sniffed another and sneezed. "Mint. Sage is the one who has the whole plant thing. I kill anything like this." She sighed and left the pots. "Her windows are full and I like the smell of these, so I let her keep them here."

"What are you into?" I asked, looking up at her. In the muted sunlight, her eyes seemed to be flicked with small spots of yellow, her skin reflecting the light back so she looked even paler. She looked down at me, the yellow dulling.

"I can't really explain it. I like stones. Each one has a purpose, and, with the right herbs to set them off, It can either be really good or really bad." She sighed happily. "And I like artistic things. Aunt Cas says I have one hell of an imagination."

"That's good though." I smiled. She got a distant look in her eyes and her face fell slightly.

"Living in a world that I make for myself, drifting through reality with my eyes on fantasy." She closed her eyes. "Living in a dream."


	12. TWELVE

I wasn't sure what to say. Or if I should say anything.

There was a long, awkward silence. Suddenly, he body jerked and she blinked her eyes, looking down at me. "Sorry about that." She shrugged. "So, since you're here, did you want to do something?"

"I don't know if that'll be okay. I didn't even tell my parents where I was going when I came here." I bit my lip.

From her desk, she handed me a cell phone. "Call them. Tell them you forgot something important and that you ran into a friend. I'm sure they'll be okay with it." She grinned.

I called the home phone and put the phone to my ear. It rang twice before my mom picked up. "Hello."

"Hi mom, it's me. Sorry I ran off, I forgot something really important at my friend's house. Is it okay if I hang out with her today?" I said quickly, not giving her a chance to cut me off.

"Of course honey. As long as you're back for dinner." I heard the smile in her voice.

"Kay. Bye." I hung up and handed the phone back t Nix. She shoved it into her back pocket.

"Want to go to town?" She asked. My face went red. "The mall is pretty big, and has a lot of stores."

"Sure." I smiled. "Are we taking our bikes?" I asked. She laughed and grabbed my wrist.

I let her drag me all the way downstairs. Cas was gone. I heard Nix mutter 'good' under her breath.

She opened a door and I felt like I was outside in the dark room. I blinked in the sudden light as she flicked the switch.

It was a long garage with four cars parked there. She led me to the one on the end and grabbed a key from the counter there.

The car was sleek and black. She climbed in and unlocked the passenger door for me. "Come on." She smiled, starting it up with a roar.

She pushed a button and the garage door opened behind us, letting in the dull light of the day. I got in and buckled up, my hands clenched into fists on my legs.

"I have a liscence, ya know. I just don't drive to school. Only teachers do." She grinned at me as she backed out. As she closed the garage, she pushed another button on her dashboard.

There was a quiet click and then the top was moving, slipping silently back to tuck under a little door that automatically slid shut. A convertable?

"Convertable Mustang." She sighed happily. "I love my Shadowfax." She kissed the leather steering wheel and backed into the street, turning to head out of town.

"I don't really know cars." I admitted, biting my lip. Though it was cloudy and fall, it was nice out. Like a Summer day.

"I know about _my_ car. Anything else isn't important." She said as we rolled to a stop sign. From a little cubby she pulled out a wallet and sunglasses, putting them over her eyes. "I think I''m going to get my hair cut. You want one?" She looked at me.

"I'm okay." I ran my fingers through my long hair. "I've been growing it out for a while..." She smiled, handing me a hair tie out of her wallet.

"I see." She smiled as she drove on the nearly abandoned streets toward the city. The wind didn't kick up until I had my hair up. All I could smell was her. And I was okay with that.

"So what are you going to do with your hair?" I asked softly, the silence straining against my ears. She persed her lips for a second before smiling.

"Who knows?" She laughed. "I usually let her have free reign." She sighed happily. "Do you mind music?" She asked, pointing to the futuristic dash of her car.

I shook my head and she grinned, not taking her eyes off the road as she waved her hand over the front of the dash. Automatically, a song started. She frowned and said a quick 'next' and it changed.

She did this a few times before stopping on a song I'd never heard before. "Perfect." She smiled softly.

The song was interesting, but it was...not _dirty_. There were no cuss words exactly, but it sounded like there should have been. And it was...embarrassing, somehow.

Because I was listening to it with Nix? The song after was even worse. Then the music was in a different language all together, but she seemed to understand it, because she sang right along to it.

I noticed one thing about it all though. All the songs sounded angery in one way or another. The words, the sound...it was all so angry. When the songs were back in English, they were even worse.

It made me wonder about the cuts on her arms this morning...I looked at them now, trying to not be obvious. She was manuvering smoothly around a slow driver, so she didn't notice, as far as I could tell.

They were almost totally gone, a faint trace of scars left. I couldn't stop myself from reaching over and taking her wrist in my hand lightly. Blood was still slightly smeared on her pale skin.

She let me do this, pulling up on the side of the street and parking the car before she looked at me. "It's okay, really." She said, turning the music down to a whisper. Semi ignoring her, I kissed her scars, making her jump.

Her skin was cold under my lips, something I thought was weird. That wasn't in any of the chapters I've read... I looked at her, sure that even though hers were covered, I locked eye contact with her. "Why did you do this?" I asked softly, holding her hand.

She looked away at that, laughing nervously. "It was nothing. I was just being stupid." She said softly, starting to put the top of the car up.

I frowned. "Nix, I may not be like you, but I'm not stupid. Please, tell me." I took her hand in both of mine. She looked at me again and I took her sunglasses off. "Please trust me."

Drums filled my ears. "I do. I trust you, Eva. So much. And I do know why you were pulled to my house this morning. But you probably won't like the answer." She sighed heavily, rolling the windows up and switched the air on.

Cool air filled the car quickly. "Please tell me." I said softly. Her eyes glowed brightly against her pale face though there was no light hitting them.

"You hear it. You feel it. You smell it. I know you do." I opened my mouth, ready to ask. "You hear the drums. You feel the tie. You smell the spice." She stated with another sigh. "That means we were born to meet. Our fates were made to twine with each other." Her fingers slipped between mine. "That's why you were dragged to my house this morning and can hear the drums and smell the pumpkin spice."


	13. THIRTEEN

"How so?" My mind was a typhoon of questions. "How are our fates supposed to meet? As friends or...?" I trailed off, not sure what else we would be. _Could_ be.

"I'm not too sure." She said softly. "But if you come on Sam-Halloween, the Crone can tell us." She looked into my eyes again. "I know I told you not to come, but, will you? As my guest? I know Sage wants you there too."

My heart skipped a beat in my chest. "W-won't I be intruding or something?" I asked softly. She shook her head.

"Our circles are open to those who are open enough to join in peace and love, not hate and voilence. Isis will protect us from them and welcome the open." She explained.

I swallowed hard. After a minute of inner debate, I nodded. "I'll come on Halloween. If you can promise me I won't be in the way."

"I promise. And, because we always tell the stories of various gods and goddesses for the younger witches, you'll get to hear them too." She grinned. "I tell the story of Aracne. Everyone loves it." She said happily.

"Nix." I said, trying to get her to focus. "You still haven't told me why." Her eyes dulled and she looked away, her gaze focused on the car in front of us.

She pulled her hand lightly out of mine, fingers closing around the steering wheel as the other rested in her lap. "The cloaked witches who came to the school the other day." She started, her voice thick. "I know you saw. Everyone did." She didn't look at me. "Those were mine and Sage's parents. Our mom and dad." Her hand tightened on the wheel, knuckles turning white.

"Sage and I...We're different than other witches. Every few decades, our family is gifted with two or three powerful witches. That would be me and Sage. Aunt Cas was in the last set, along with my mom and other Aunt, who committed suicide as a teenager.

It's not easy, growing up like this in the first place, but having all eyes on you, expecting great things from the golden children...It's enough to drive someone to that. But Aunt Cas was able to go through school easily. Mom and Aunt Kim, not so much.

Mom blamed the humans in the town for what happened to Kim. And so did Dad. That's when they swore to take us from here and raise us to use or powers for _us, _and not the ungrateful humans." She spat the last part, making me flinch.

"They came to us that day to offer again. They do it every year near Samhain. But this year was different." She shook her head slowly, her lips pressing together.

"How?" I whispered.

"They plan on attacking the circle and the town. And it's not just them. They have more followers. Witches like us. Roughly a dozen or so. Enough to wipe our little town off the map if we don't stop them.

The hardest place hit will be the circle though. I want you to be safe, so I want you to be with me." She looked at me again. "That way I know when they attack, I'll have you close and can protect you." She reached toward me, like she wanted to touch me, but she set her hand back in her lap. "That means I can focus on the fight and not worried about you."

Now I _really _didn't know what to say. She's been worried about me? Why?! I opened and closed my mouth a couple times before I actually spoke. "W-why are you so worried about me?"

She sighed and closed her eyes, resting back against her seat heavily. "I don't know. I really don't. Cas knows, but Isis knows she won't bend to me and tell me. But I do. I need to protect you. To keep you safe. It's not something I really understand."

"Okay." I took a deep breath. "I kind of understand. If it's anything like how I felt this morning, I'll try to stay close to you." I said this while I pressed my hand to my chest. "I honestly felt like I was going to be sick if I didn't get to you." My heart was racing, but I hadn't noticed.

"Thank you." She sighed softly. I looked over to see her with her eyes closed, lookng much older than me. Than seventeen. Her hand was cold in mine, something that scared me.

After a couple minutes of silence, she laughed. "We're supposed to be having fun today, not soul bearing in my car." She grinned at me and grabbed her wallet. "Let's go." She said, turning the car off and unlocking the door.

And with that, I was swept up in our little outting. I didn't have my wallet, only my phone and Nix. So that left her buying me everything, which made me uneasy.

All the shops we went to were the same. We even stopped at a small food cart where she bought me fries and a thick chocolate shake. It was good, but she refused to eat any when we sat at a table shaded by a tree, only tugging her own shake up through her straw as she watched me eat.

When we touched, it was almost painful how cold she was, but I was getting used to it. I noticed when our cheeks brushed as we looked closely in a window that she was cold all over.

Not an icy cold, but like she'd just gone swimming and didn't dry off cold. As we walked into one shop, I noticed something.

All my nerves about being out with her vanished at the door. I then noticed what _kind_ of shop we were in. All around us were stones and plants.

Candles and inscense burned agaisnt the far wall, giving the shop a soft, smoky air. It was nice...

"Nix!" A small woman bound toward her, wrapping her in a tight hug.

"Holly!" Nix gasped, catching the woman. "Long time no see." She smiled, sitting the woman on her feet.

"Since the last healing chant!" The woman, Holly laughed. "And I see you brought your girlfriend to meet me!" She squealed, pulling me into a bone crushing hug. "She's so cute!" I tensed as Nix explained.

"Holly, she's just a friend." Nix sighed. Holly took a long look at me then at Nix and at us together.

"If you say so." She smiled, poking Nix in her side. Nix rolled her eyes.

"Holly's a part of the circle. She's going to be at the circle on Samhain. She like meddeling in other's love lives." Nix said pointedly. "When she's not telling people about their future love lives or casting love spells. "

"Speaking of, word has it that there's going ot be a big Hart family battle at the circle. Also speaking of, how's that pouche treating you? Find your soulmate yet?" She asked, elbowing Nix's hip playfully.

"Yeah. The wedding is tomorrow." Nix sighed leaning against a coutner, stroking the petals of the sunflower that stretched toward her as she did so. "I swear you gave me a rip off pouche, Holly. Nothing's happened."

Holly coughed into her fist. "Nobody _new_ came into your life?" Nix's hand froze on the petal of the sunflower she'd been petting for a second.

"Huh. Maybe." She said softly, her mouth pulling into a small smile as her fingers brushed lovingly over the flower again. She kissed the flower lightly and it perked up before she pulled away.

"So, what exactly did you come for?" Holly asked, running her hand over some stones. They started to glow slightly...

Nix scoffed. "What? I can't come to see my friend every now and then?" There was a pause and they both laughed. "Okay, okay. I need some more sage and pillar candles."

Holly raised her eyebrow at candles. "I thought the Hart family was making their own candles?" She asked softly, moving around the room, gathering things in a small bag.

"Only in the warm seasons. The bees are usually head off or die at the start of Fall." Nix shrugged. "But we used the last of our supply in a... cleansing." She said, looking at me from the corner of her eye.

"Ah. I see." Holly nodded. "And Sage grows sage, but I know you wanted the dried sage." She smiled.

"Burns better." They said at the same time, smiles on their faces as Holly handed Nix her bag. "Well, I'll see you on Samhain." She hugged Nix and smiled at me. "And don't worry. Our world really isn't as scary as the people you live around make it out to be." She pulled me into a hug.

She smelled like sweet flowers and smoke. She let go of me and waved as Nix led me out of the small shop. "Blessed be!" Holly called before the door shut.

"Blessed be!" Nix waved and let go of the door. Once it was shut, she sighed and tilted her head back, looking at the gray sky. "We should probably get back, huh? Don't need more rumors about us flying around town."

"Nix?" I asked as we walked back to her car.

"Yeah?" She unlocked the doors and sat our bags in the backseat before climbing in. "What's up?"

I got in next to her. "What did she mean? By the whole 'our world isn't so scary' thing, I mean."

"Oh!" She looked surprised for a second. "It's just a witch thing. Everyone hears the word pagan and most of the time don't know or care what it means. But when they hear witch, their minds automatically go to movies and stories about witches. Very rarely has a normal human actually looked past the word to our actions." She had a sad look on her face at the last part.

"I did." I said softly. "I am." I put my hand on her shoulder lightly. She looked at me, her eyes dark.

"I know." She sighed. "And look where it's gotten you." She muttered under her breath, probably hoping I wouldn't hear.

But I did hear her. I heard her loud and clear.


	14. FOURTEEN

The drive home was quiet. Nix didn't turn any music on. She didn't put the top down. The air itself seemed to be quivering with the awkward energy that surrounded us.

When she pulled into her driveway, I felt a sense of panic. What if I wouldn't get another chance to talk to her alone like this again?

"Nix..." I breathed as she pulled into the garage, looking at my lap. I took a deep breath to settle myself. "Nix, I really want to ask you something." I finally said.

She parked and looked at me, her eyes distant. "Yes?" She said softly, turning the engine off, shutting the garage door. We were swallowed in darkeness, only the light of the dash board giving us some sort of sight.

"There are rumors about you. About..." I blushed, looking at my hands. "About your...your um..."

"My sexuality?" She asked, cutting me off with a small squeak. I nodded. "What about it?"

"I...Is it true?" I asked, not looking up.

"Yeah. Though they all say I'm a lesbian fag. I'm not. I'm actually pansexual." I blinked.

"Pansexual?" I finally looked at her.

"No, I'm not sexually attracted to pans. It's also known as gender blind. It doesn't matter about genitals or looks but more about personality and nature." I bit my lip as she explained.

"So...it's like true love?" She smiled.

"More or less." She shrugged. "Why are you curious?" She asked, her eyebrow lifting.

My cheeks grew warmer. "I...I can't really explain it." I said, telling the truth. Her eyes met mine and seemed to gleam in the light that lit my face.

Her hand found mine as our eyes locked, making me jump slightly. "I think." She said softly, looking at our joined hands "That time will brighten up your mind. In the mean time." She opened the door and got out, coming around to open my door. "You should get home. Things are already dangerous enough for you in all of this." She said, helping me out of the car like a gentalman.

"What's going on exactly?" I asked, moving aside so she could close my door. She grinned.

"You'll undertand in a couple weeks. On Sam-Halloween." She stuttered on that word again.

"Call it Samhain. I know what you mean, Nix." I smiled softly at her. "And if it will make you feel better, I'll go home." I said as she led me to the door into the house.

"I shouldn't walk you home this time. People will talk. And we don't really need that just yet." She grinned cheekily, back to herself. We stopped at the front door.

I blushed, not too sure what she meant by the 'just yet' part. She lifted my hand to her face, her lips kissing the back of my hand lightly, her eyes meeting mine. A tingling zap ran down my spine and into my limbs as she did.

In my daze, she'd opened the door and was looking at me, waiting. "Nix, I..." I breathed, my body trembling.

Before I knew it, her face was in my hands and I was raising up on my toes, my lips pressing against hers. She seemed stunned senseless, because she didn't stop me as I turned and ran out the open door all the way down the street, not stopping until I was on my block.

My heart was racing, my feet were numb. My lips...My lips were on fire. It felt amazing and I want it to last forever.

Everything that had just happened caught up with me, making me stumble. I just kissed...Nix Hart. A girl. I JUST KISSED A GIRL!

My first kiss. Went to Nix. My first kiss went to a girl. I touched my lips as I walked home slowly. When I got inside, I went straight to my room, my lips still burning when I flopped onto my bed.

After a little bit of internal freaking out, I finally calmed down enough to go get a bottle of water and say hi to mom before she could question me about my day. When I got up to my room, I grabbed my cell phone.

I hadn't touched it all day. I usually don't check it until I get out of school or when I can on the weekend, but things rarely change. But this time, I had text message from someone I didn't know.

Frowning to myself, I opened it and felt an instant blush dust my cheeks.

HEY IT'S NIX. I WON'T MAKE A BIG DEAL OUT OF THAT IF YOU DON'T, OKAY?

Nix. How did she get my number? I felt a bubble of excitement fill me. Then confusion.

HOW DID YOU GET MY NUMBER?

MAGIC. I could almost hear her soft laugh.

RIGHT. BUT **THAT** WAS KIND OF A BIG DEAL. I'M SORRY IF THAT MADE YOU UNCOMFORTABLE.

IT DIDN'T MAKE ME UNCOFORTABLE, EXACTLY. THE WAY YOU BOLTED WORRIED ME THOUGH.

I winced at that. She must have felt so bad.

SORRY ABOUT THAT. I PANICKED AND THOUGHT THAT YOU'D BE MAD AT ME.

WHY WOULD I BE MAD? I **DID** KISS YOU FIRST. WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT IT, AT LEAST.

YEAH. There was a long pause. SO WHAT DOES THIS MEAN, EXACTLY?

HOW SO?

I bit my lip. WHAT DOES THIS MAKE US? I rewrote it a dozen times before I finally hit the send button.

Her pause was even longer than mine, and it made me so anxious it hurt. Finally my phone buzzed in my hand and I was scared to open it.

WELL, WHAT DO YOU WANT US TO BE? FRIENDS OR...?

What _did _I want, exactly? I pondered that and decided to tell the truth.

I LIKE YOU, NIX. AS MORE THAN A FRIEND. AND **THAT**. I LIKED THAT.

There was another pause before she replied.

PEOPLE ARE GOING TO TALK. AND THEY WON'T LIKE IT. WHAT WILL YOUR PARENTS THINK?

I smiled. I DON'T CARE, NIX. I FEEL LIKE WE ARE SUPPOSED TO BE TOGETHER. I DON'T KNOW WHY, BUT I DO.

ARE YOU SURE? IF YOU WANT, WE CAN KEEP IT A SECRET.

IF THAT'S WHAT YOU WANT, OKAY.

OKAY. BUT IF WE'RE GOING TO KEEP THIS A SECRET, YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE TO PUT A LOCK ON YOUR PHONE SO NOBODY CAN READ YOUR TEXTS TO ME. MINE IS ALREADY SECURE.

RIGHT. I CAN DO THAT. SO WE'RE LIKE WHAT? SECRET GIRL FRIENDS?

YEP. I heard her soft laugh in my head again.

WHO CAN WE TELL? I asked, not too worried about who she said as long as they kept it a secret.

SAGE AND AUNT CAS, OF COURSE. THEY'LL KNOW IF WE TOLD THEM OR NOT. THEY'D SENSE IT. THAT'S ALL THE PEOPLE I CAN THINK ABOUT. UNLESS YOU WANT TO TELL ANYONE?

NOT REALLY. Rowan. She'd know instantly. Just one look at my face and she'd know. But she's still an under cover witch watching the girls.

OKAY. WELL, YOU HAVE CHURCH IN THE MORNING. I SHOULD LET YOU SLEEP. I finally looked at the time. It was ten minutes until midnight and church was at seven in the morning.

I DIDN'T NOTICE THE TIME. WOW IT'S LATE. YEAH, I SHOULD GO TO SLEEP. GOODNIGHT. I'LL TALK TO YOU AFTER CHURCH TOMORROW.

DO YOU WANT TO COME OVER FOR LUNCH? I CAN MAKE SOMETHING?

THAT SOUNDS NICE. I'LL COME OVER AS SOON AS I CAN TOMORROW.

OKAY. ANY ALLERGIES?

NOPE.

ALRIGHT. SEE YOU TOMORROW. GET TO SLEEP.

I WILL. GOODNIGHT.

GOODNIGHT.

I feel asleep with my phone to my chest and a smile on my face.


	15. FIFTEEN

"Eva." I was shaken awake by Mom. I blinked up at her and smiled. "You need to get ready for church sweet heart." I nodded and got up, moving automatically. I was in a daze.

A really happy one, but a daze none the less. The more I moved, the deeper I seemed to slip into it. All I could think about was Nix.

Nix. I'll be seeing her in a couple hours. Around eleven thirty. If I can just make it though church without having jitters, today will be great. Amazing.

Magical. I chuckled to myself as I thought that. "Mom?" I asked in the car. "I promised a friend that we'd spend the day together. Is that okay?"

"Of course dear! I'm glad you're spending so much time with your friends!" I smiled out the window and followed them into the church, sitting between them.

I felt like I was asleep all through church. I was hearing everything, seeing everything, but nothing registered. Until the pastor started to talk about people trying to "convert us into worshiping satan and loving the same sex".

That's when I knew that he was talking about the Hart girls. And I knew that everything he said was full of lies and fear. It took everything in me to not stand up and contest him as he spoke about them like they weren't even human.

By the time it was all over, I felt like the pressure I'd put on my limbs was enough to break my bones. My legs were so wobbly when we went back out to the car that I nearly fell. The pastor looked me in the eye as we walked out and I know the look I gave him was less than pleasant.

But now isn't the time to think about him. I needed to get a hold of myslef before I go see Nix. I checked the time on the dashboard as we stopped by the Hart house.

Nothing happened, unlike yesterday. I could almost see myself and Nix in the doorway, kissing. A huge blush spread across my cheeks. "Eva?" Dad asked from the driver's seat.

"Y-yeah?" I stuttered, trying to not look like I was caught doing something I shouldn't have been as he started driving again.

"I heard through the grapevine that you stood up for the Hart girls." I stiffened. How? Who had told him?

Mom remained silent. "Yes, and?" I asked, ready for a lecture.

"What made you do that? You _do_ know that they are satan worshipers." I swallowed hard. He looked at me in the rearview mirror.

"They don't acutally." I said, trying to stay calm as bile rose in my throat. "They worship a goddess named Isis. And _you_ taught me to stand up for those who won't stand up for themselves." He slammed the breaks, sending me flying against my seatbelt.

"NOT HEATHENS!" He roared. Mom flinched against her seat. "Eva Elizabeth Gray do not talk back to me!"

My ribs ached and I was having trouble catching my breath, but I raised my chin and met his eyes in the rearview mirror as we pulled into our driveway. "I don't know how knowing the difference between right and wrong and stating the facts makes me a back talker, but I guess it does."

Before I knew what was happening, he'd turned in his seat and was hitting me with the back of his hand. Mom didn't even try to stop him as he did it for a good minute. "Say that again, I dare you." He said once he was done.

I took a shaky breath. My ears were ringing and there was something cool on my cheek. "You are wrong about them." I said. Before he could hit me again, I got out of the car. "And I'm going to my friends house now. I'll be back later."

And, with him screaming bloody murder after me, I walked to Nix's house, beaten and bruised, my head held high.


	16. SIXTEEN

The door opened before I even reached to porch, Nix's smiling face falling as she saw me. "Eva?" She gasped and rushed me inside. "Eva what happened? Who did this to you?!" She said, leading me to the living room to lay me on the couch.

"My dad." I said softly, touching her face. "Does it look bad?" I grinned, my lip stinging. Her eyes glistened.

"Wait here. I'll be right back." She said, bolting up stairs. I closed my eyes and tried to not feel my body. Everything was ringing with pain.

Something cold touched my cheek, making me flinch and open my eyes. Nix was leaning over me again, a wet cloth in her hand. When she pulled it back, I saw blood. I watched her as she wiped my face gently, her face expressionless.

"Hold still." She said once she was done. "This might feel weird." She sat back on her knees and held her hands over me.

I held as still as I could as a smoldering heat filled me, making the pain spike until the heat went away. "He beat you, didn't he? But that doesn't explain your cracked rib." She frowned.

"He hit the breaks and I hit my seat belt." I smiled. An emotion finally lit her eyes. She looked like she wanted to kill someone. The air seemed to tremble around her before she took a deep breath.

"Okay. Okay. Dealing with that later. Let's fix you up." She said, putting a pouch in my hands.

It was warm and seemed to vibrate in my palms. She pressed it to my chest, making me cross my arms a little. "Just like that." She smiled, kissing my forehead. "This might hurt a little." She said, holding her hands over me again.

I'd seen her do this before. Only once, but I've seen it. But, unlike Sage had, I didn't close my eyes. I wanted to see every second of this.

Nix's eyes were closed her mouth moving silently. Though I couldn't hear her words, I could _see_ them. Like they were stringing out of her lips like they were written on a band of paper.

The words seemed to slip off the band and into _me_. And then I felt it. The ache of her healing me. I clenched my jaw as the pain rang sharp in my head before it seemed to be sucked away from me.

I didn't realize I'd closed my eyes until it was over. My body felt good as new, like the last twenty minutes hadn't happened. I opened my eyes.

Nix wasn't over me any more. I sat up, the pouch still in my hands, and looked for her. She was crawling on her hands and knees to the place she'd knelt in yesterday. I gasped and started to help her.

"No. Eva, stay there." She coughed, blood covering the floor under her. "I have to do this on my own." She said, her voice shaking. Though I didn't like it, I stayed put.

She collapsed in that spot, rolling onto her back. Everything in me was screaming, but I was frozen in place. Her face was brusied and bloody, her lip and eyebrow split, her eye ringed with purple.

Blood was streaked down her cheek, starting from somewhere along her scalp. And, as I watched, she shuttered, the wounds closing themselves again.

Tears stung my eyes as she stopped breathing, blood welling in her mouth. She stared at the ceiling as the blood dripped down onto the floor, rolling in straight paths down her cheeks and into her hair.

"Nix?" I whispered, scared senseless. "Nix?" I covered my mouth.

After a moment, she rolled over, coughing and spitting the blood onto the floor. "Oh God Nix!" I gasped, flying to the floor next to her, kneeling in her blood. I put my hand on her trembling back

"I'm fine." She said, taking a couple deep breaths. "Can you hand me that cloth?" I nodded and grabbed it, helping her sit back on the floor. When she tried to take the cloth from me, I shook my head and started to wipe her face.

She let me, her eyes closing gently. All of her wounds were healed, but had _mine_ been that bad? "So I was that busted up, huh?" I asked as I wiped the last of the blood off of her cheek.

"More or less. The worse the wound I heal, the more it takes to heal it. Think of it like the whole 'leave a penny, take a penny' thing. But instead of taking a penny, I take anywhere from a nickle up to a dollar." She smiled at me. I blinked in confusion. "Nothing is free. Not even magic. When I heal others, I hurt myself. Sometimes it will only be a couple times worse, others it will be a hundred times worse. This was only a couple times worse. The only exaggeration was the ribs. Instead of a crack, I had a break and a punctured lung."

I gasped as I understood what she meant. "Then why? Why help people like that?" I asked. She smiled and took my face in her hands.

"I help who I care about and others if they'd ever let me." I felt my cheeks grow hot. "I know it doesn't really make sense, but it does to me." She kissed my forehead lightly. "So I will clean up all this blood and then get started on food, okay?" I nodded.


	17. SEVENTEEN

She started with wiping my legs off with a clean rag. I was happy I'd worn a dress to church today for the simple fact that if I had worn pants they'd be blood stained. But, even though it was a modest length and I was wearing shorts under it, I still turned beet red with Nix touching my bare legs. Her hands were so cool and gentle it made me shiver, which I'm sure she noticed.

But, she didn't say anything about it, only saying that I could sit on the couch if I wanted while she cleaned quickly. "You're pretty good at this." I said softly.

"Well, this isn't the first time this has happened. It's just a good thing this is wood floor and not carpet." She laughed. "But I mean even when I die, I don't _stay_ dead. And we were raised that a mess you make is yours to clean up." She shrugged.

Stay dead? What does that mean? "What do you mean, 'stay dead'?" I asked, watching her with a small frown.

She stopped cleaning for a minute and hung her head. "Damn, I let that slip." She looked at me upside down from under her arm. "Guess I'm getting more and more comfortable with you, huh?" She grinned and flipped overm her feet in the air for a second as her head turned around.

It looked painful, but she smiled at me as she straigtned up to face me, still cleaning. "I can't die until she wants me to." She said softly. "I've died several times in this life, but she keeps sending me back to this." She shrugged again.

"She?" I asked. Nix nodded her head toward the East wall. "Isis? Why would she do that?" I asked.

"I was put here with a purpose, as I am in every life I've been forced to live and remember. I'm not allowed to die until the purpose has been fufilled. It's not that bad. Anymore at least. When I was younger, I tried to kill myself so many times, but, well, we both know how well those attempts worked out." She stood up.

My mouth was a gaping maw at this point. "Nix why would you even consider that?!" I gasped, standing in front of her. She said nothing. "I can't imagine a world without you, Nix." I said, in the verge of tears.

Still, she said nothing, only tipping her head up, staring at the ceiling. Like that, I saw so many different things flash across her face, even though I couldn't see all of it. "This isn't supposed to be like this." She finally said softly.

"Will you tell me why?" I asked, grabbing her hand. She finally looked at me, and her eyes seemed much, _much_ older than they should have been.

"I started to remember all my past lives when I turned ten. Every single one of them. But I can tell you more about it while I cook, okay?" She said softly. I nodded and followed her into a huge kitchen. She lifted me up onto one of the counters and got to work, pulling out a large pot and a pan with a matching lid.

As she worked, she talked about her past lives. "I remember some more vividly than others." She started. "My time in Salem during the witch trials. My time in Egypt during the times of old. The Burning of Chicago. the Black Plague in England. But the last two are still fresh. The newest." She said, cutting up some chicken and throwing it into the pan she'd filled half way with water.

"The second to last was during World War two. I was living in Marin County in California with my husband Alfred and our daughter Helen. It was right around the time the Golden Gate Bridge was constructed that my very best friend Elizabeth, though she always wanted to be called Lizzy, came to live right next door to us with her husband, Johnny.

We'd phoned each other nearly every day until she finally moved in, we were so excited." She laughed. "Alfred and Johnny hit it off when they met. We'd all gather around the radio each night and listen to our programs. Helen would always sneek down the stairs and fall asleep listening to the radio on the stairs.

It was all fine and dandy until the war struck up. Alfred and Johnny were drafted, of course. Two fine, strapping young men like them wouldn't have been passed up for the draft. Lizzy started staying with me and Helen, taking care of her when I went to work.

I'd given Alfred a few charms and bobbles before he'd left, but I put a strong spell on our wedding rings when we'd first gotten hitched. Kind of like a life line, the ring would let us know if the other had died." She paused for a second. "He was a witch too. From Kansas. His twang was so cute." She swallowed hard. "But, one day on the way home from getting groceries, I felt it.

He'd died in battle. Lizzy, bless her soul, had no idea that I was a witch and neither did Helen. She wasn't born into it, thank Isis. That was such a hateful time. But I never made it home.

We only lived a stone throw and a hop from the Golden Gate Bridge, so that was where I went. I sat the groceries by the railing with my shoes, climbed up on the rail and started to walk. They're about as thick as a balance beam, and I never lost my balance.

Someone decided to phone to police on me. I saw them coming. But they couldn't really change anything.

My husband had been taken from me because of a stupid war that we had no part to be be in in the first place. I felt betrayed. I was so _fucking_ angry..." She took a deep breath before she continued.

"So, I wanted to taunt them. Hell, I _did _taunt them. I used a tricky little spell and opened their minds to me. I used their issues agaisnt them. Most of them hadn't been drafted because they'd been injured. They felt like they were less of men for it. By the time I was done messing with them, they were all ready to kill me _for _me." She laughed again. "I remember the last things I said to them too. I told them my address and that they needed to inform Lizzy about my death and that they weren't manly enough to save me.

And, just like that, I let go. I fell back into the night sky. It felt like I was flying. I could see the stars and the moon. Until I hit the water, that is. I slammed into it like a truck." She smacked her hand agaisnt the counter, making me jump. "I didn't even feel the instinct to try to save myself. The water was so cold, I couldn't feel my arms or legs. Did you know that because of tides, that warm water is pushed North from California and cold water is pushed South from Washington?" She didn't even look at me.

"I sure didn't at the time. But, as I sank deeper, I saw these lovely balls going away from me. They were lined with silver and rainbows." She reached out in front of her. "I wanted to touch them. Now I realized that was the air I'd had in my lungs being crushed out of me.

My chest was hurting, and my vision was going. All I remember after that was the feel of rocks and soft sand against my skin. Then boom!" She clapped her hands together. "I was born yet again.

This time I was a young man in uptown New York. My parents were well off, even by witch standards, and I never wanted any part of that. I wanted to change the world!" She laughed, shaking her head. "I went to school and college, and I even became a writer. Go figure." She rolled her eyes. "I became a professor at a university after I was published, and I taught gay studies. Even then, I guess I knew what I liked. But I taught everything from transgenger transitions to the LGBT spectrum, though it wasn't that broad back then.

I got a lot of hate for that. It still wasn't a great time to be out in the open about things like religion or sexual preferences. People would picket my lectures outside of the building.

People would try to start riots at my public speakings. There were several book burnings, all held to tarnish my name. But I didn't care. I was actually making people _think_.

It wasn't until I was almost fourty did I finally fall in love. After Alfred, I didn't _want_ to fall in love again. But Goddess did Olivia make me feel alive again. She reawoke my ability to love, and I will never forget her for that." She smiled. "She was like you." She looked at me, her eyes nostalgic. "Her mind was open, even though my beliefs went against her own. I never stopped her from worshiping her way or tried to force my way on her, and she gave me the same respect."

"How did you die last time?" I asked softly when she didn't speak again. She bit her lip.

"Did you know birthmarks are how you died in your previous life?" She asked. I shook my head. She smiled and, making me turn red, lifted her shirt up to just under her breasts.

There, along her ribs, was a large birthmark, right over her heart. It almost looked like the size _of_ a heart. "Olivia's folks found out about us and they didn't like the idea that their daughter was with a fag lover." She spat the words. "So, one night when I was on my way to my car from grading papers late, I was jumped and knocked out.

I woke up, not knowing where I was and tied down to a table. They came in and said I could scream all I wanted, because nobody would hear it. That we were out in the middle of nowhere in a cabin.

They said that Olivia had broken their hearts by being with me, so they were going to break my heart in return. They cut me open and started to break my ribs.

I died before they actually got to my heart. It wasn't like they were surgeons. More like backwards, backwoods, pork your own cousin type of folk. So I bled to death. And here I am now."

Hearing that. All of that. It made me want to cry for her. And those were just her last two lives? Out of how many? A thousand? A _couple_ thousand?


	18. EIGHTEEN

Hearing that. All of that. It made me want to cry for her. And those were just her last two lives? Out of how many? A thousand? A _couple_ thousand?

"Nix..." I covered my mouth, not sure what to say. She continued like I hadn't spoken.

"Each life I start to remember the others on my tenth birthday. It only takes about a month to remember _every_ life, but in my past lives, I had a lot more help with it than I did in this one.

I was still with my parents, who were never around. Yes, I'd known I was a witch before hand. I was raised a witch. But, when all the memories came back, I thought I was going crazy.

Because...I could _feel_ the deaths. Every. Single. Death. I've frozen to death, been burned to death, drowned, murdered, stabbed, had my heart ripped out, choked to death, hung, my head cut clean off my shoulders. Any and every kind of want to kill someone, it's been done to me. And they hurt.

Goddess do they hurt." She stopped stirring the huge pot which was now full of chicken noodle soup. "And, all by myself at such a young age, I couldn't handle it. I'd wake up at night, thinking I was dying again. For months I woke up at night like that.

I was so ready to end it all..." She swallowed hard. "So, when I was alone, I would slit my wrists. Overdose on pills. Hang myself. Stab myself in the heart. But I never _stayed_ dead. I'd always wake up with blood all around me or a broken rope over me or an empty pill bottle next to me.

But, when Aunt Cas finally got custody of me when I turned eleven, she explained it all to me. I finally understood. And I wasn't scared anymore. Instead, I embraced my past lives, because they are a part of me. Then remembering the deaths didn't hurt any more."

She smiled at me, seemingly back to herself. "Nix, I..." I didn't know what to say. "I'm so sorry." I said softly.

"Hey now." She came to where I was sitting and reached around me, grabbing two bowls from the cabinet behind me. "You have nothing to be sorry about. It is just a part of me that I have grown to live with." She kissed my lips lightly. "The soup is ready. I'll get you a bowl so it can cool down."

Before she could pull away, I wrapped my arms around her neck and kissed her again. She didn't argue one bit, and that made me happy. Her lips met mine gingerly, like she was nervous to kiss me.

But, when she moved to stand between my legs, she seemed to relax a bit, her lips meeting mine with a lot more force than I'd expected from her. A small sound came out of my mouth, but I didn't really care as long as she kept kissing me like that.

My heart was racing and my head was swimming by the time she pulled away, slipping out of my arms. I hopped off the counter and wrapped my arms around her waist, burying my face against her back as she laddled out our soup.

It smelled amazing, much better than anything my mom could make. She sat them aside to cool and turned in my arms, smiling down at me. "This is nice." She said, wrapping her arms around my shoulders.

She tucked my head under her chin. "It is." I said softly. "I wish I didn't have to go home later." I sighed against her collarbone, making her shiver slightly. I kissed her neck softly, making her shiver even more.

"A ha ha Eva my neck is kind of a sensitive area for me." She breathed, running her fingers though my hair, her voice nervous. I nodded and stopped, stepping away from her a bit. She smiled down at me and kissed my forhead. "Go sit down. I'll grab spoons and crackers." She said softly, her hands on my shoulders.

I went to sit at the table as she put my bowl and spoon in front of me and went to go get crackers. The chair and table were so high that my legs swung a couple good inches from the floor, so I crossed my ankles as I waited. "Do you want something to drink?" She asked as she came back into the room, a bag of oyster crackers in her hand.

"Water is fine?" I said, though it came out as a question. She opened the fridge and pulled out a two bottles of water. "Hey, I was meaning to ask. Where are Cas and Sage?" I asked. They'd been gone since I got here about an hour and a half ago and haven't come back.

"They went in to town to gather some supplies for Samhain. Mostly the usual party stuff. Table clothes, red solo cups, snacks, crystal meth." She grinned as I choked on a small bit of water. "Kidding, kidding." She laughed and opened the crackers. "But that's why I made so much. Aunt Cas isn't the best at cooking and Sage burns nearly anything she touches. So I cook for the family.

I'll be cooking for Samhain, too. No idea what I'll be making this year, though." She shrugged and started to eat her soup. It looked amazing.

It had egg noodles,chicken chunks, carrots, celery, bay and pepper floating around in a broth she'd made from scratch. And, when I tasted it, I could have sworn I was in heaven. We ate in silence for a few minutes before she spoke.

"Hey, do you know what raving is?" She asked. I looked at her and combed my brain before I shook my head. Her jaw dropped.

"Sorry." I laughed. "I'm just not too up to date on a lot of stuff like parties or dancing I guess." I bit my lip.

"It's okay. I remembered that there's a rave in the town over and I was going to ask you to go with me. Sage doesn't anymore. She said it was too boring." She scoffed. "I don't know how she was bored, honestly. They're so fun. Good music, good people..." She sighed. "You can almost smell the g vibes in the air when you're at one." She smiled at me.

"G vibes?" I asked, tilting my head. She grinned brightly.

"Good vibes. We call them g vibes for short. And then there's PLUR." I blinked at her, making her laugh. "Peace, Love, Unity and Respect." She ticked them off on her fingers. "Or PLUR. That's what got me hooked on raving, honestly. That no matter who you are, we're all humans in the end and all beasts on the dance floor."

She sounded so happy when she talked about it. "Sure, I'll go." Her face lit up. "But you'll have to teach me how to rave."

"It's more of a hands on learning experience, but I can teach you some dancing, I guess. And we can make you some kandi and an outfit." She smiled brightly.

"Candy? Like the kind you eat?" She laughed and shook her head.

"No, not the kind you eat. Finish your soup and I'll show you my rave room." I blinked at that. "Aunt Cas gave me and Sage both three rooms, since we live here alone in this big old house. One for our bedrooms, then the other two for what ever we want. The whole third floor is mine." I nodded.

"What's the third room used for?" I asked softly. She shrugged.

"My alter." She said matter of factly. I guess to her, it was a simple as she said it.

"Can I see that too?" I asked softly. She smiled at me.

"Maybe some other day, okay?" I nodded and put my spoon in my empty bowl. "Ready?"

"Yeah." I smiled at her. She was actually showing me a part of herself. And sharing her secrets with me.


	19. NINETEEN

"Can I ask you a question?" I asked her as we started up the stairs.

"Well you just did and survived, so I'd say it's a safe bet." She laughed softly.

"What happened to Olivia?" I asked softly. She stopped on the stairs for a moment before she continued.

"Well, I did some research on her. Once she found out what her parents had done to me, she had them arrested. They're still in jail to this day if they're not dead. She had to deal with depression when she realized I was never coming home." Her voice was faint. "But she's doing much better. She's still alive and well in Maine. Still making a difference." I heard the smile in her voice.

"Do you..." I trailed off, not sure how to say this. "Do you miss her?" I asked softly.

"Sometimes, I guess. Aunt Cas wanted me to travel out there and meet her when I turn eighteen, but I'm not too sure if I want to. I mean, what would I even say to her? 'Hello I'm the reincarnate of your finacee how are you?'" She shook her head. "Besides, I was a part of her life seventeen years ago, not now. She knows Thomas, not Nix." She sighed and stopped in front of a door on her floor. "She deserves to have a normal life. I can't go busting in on her now, ya know?"

In a way, it _did_ make sense. She opened the door and flipped a switch. The room was the same size as her bedroom, just without the bed. Along one wall was a small desk with a bunch of boxes lining it and I assumed there were more in the drawers. A computer was mounted on the wall over it.

Bean bag chairs were scattered along the room, a couple put along a wall and others were in the middle of the floor. Across from the desk was a closet. Posters plastered the walls.

She let me take it all in and moved to the desk, picking up a remote that had been on one of the boxes. The computer lit up and she clicked a button on the side.

A red light keyboard lit the desk in an open spot, makingme gape. She started to type, her fingers flying across the lights. Music filled the room, coming out of the corners.

I hadn't noticed speakers there earlier? Wow this is cool! The music seemed techy...but the beat made me bounce with it. Nix got up and came over to me, taking my hand. Gently, she took me to the closet and opened it.

Inside was lined with neon colored clothes, ranging from pants to a tiny skirt and tutus. She grinned and pulled out a hoded vest. On the front it said 'Shadowbox Mayhem' and she flipped the hood up on her hand so I could read the 'PLUR' and 'PANDA' written on the sides.

When she showed me the back, I was shocked to see a beautiful galaxy scene. She turned it back and I saw the same thing on the pockets in the front. "Where'd you get this?" I asked, running my fingers down the front. I noted that the hood's ties had beads on them.

"I made it silly." I gaped at her. "The front is my rave name, Shadowbox Mayhem. The hood is PLUR, obviously, and PANDA because that's a nickname for pansexuals. And the back and pockets...Well, I didn't want to leave them blank. So I did some galazy paint." She shrugged like it was no big deal.

"Nix, this is _amazing_. If you made something like this and wore it to school, everyone would think it was, too!" I couldn't stop touching it.

It _was_ paint. I felt like I was running my fingers lightly over a brick wall. But I couldn't stop. She smiled at me. "I can make you one. If you have an old shirt or tank top or pants or something you don't wear much any more? I made this from an old jacket I used to wear."

"Really?" I asked, my voice as excited as I was. She nodded.

"It's easiest to do it on black or navy blue." She said, starting to take it from me to return it to the closet. I let her before she stopped and took it off the hanger.

"Nix?" I asked as she unzipped it. I blushed as she put it over my shoulders and put my arms through the openings as a reflex. She zipped it about half way up and me and flipped the hood over my head, smiling down at me.

It smelled like her. Like her room. It was so relaxing and nice. The hood was so big on me it covered my eyes and part of my nose, but I didn't mind.

I _was_ shocked when Nix suddenly picked me up and I was pressed between her and the wall, my legs hooked over her hips. My face was bright red and I was honestly anxious as to what she was going to do.

Though, it didn't stop me from putting my arms around her neck. She lifted the hood up so I could see her, letting it fall down around my neck. I swallowed hard when she leaned forward, kissing me softly.

My heart was racing. I'd only ever heard of stuff like this from books and movies, not real life! Did people really do this? I mean I like it, but what do I do?

Nix's hands had formed a cradle under me, seating me with my legs right at her waist as she pressed against me, kissing me like she had earlier.

Shivers ran down my spine and through my arms. It felt so _good_ for her to be doing this to me. I gasped when I felt something new.

Her tongue brushed my lower lip. Just lightly, but I felt it. She broke away and put me down. "S-sorry." She panted. "I got a little carried away." She took a few deep breaths. "It's just that seeing you in that kind of made me lose focus and then I took it too far. Sorry." Her voice was shaking like she was scared.

"Don't be sorry." I said, pulling her down to kiss her roughly once then a peck. "I liked it. Even though I might not be ready or even _know_ how to kiss like that, I liked it." I grinned at her. "I honestly didn't want to stop." I said, telling her the truth, my face burning so hot it almost hurt.

"Oh." She said, a devious smirk pulling at her lips. I'd never seen that look from her, and it honestly made my legs shake. It was so incredibly..._sexy_. She started to put her arms back around me when she frozen and sighed. "I guess we'll have to pick this up some other time."

"Huh?" I looked at her as she took her vest off of me and hung it up in one fluid motion. She went to shut down the computer, still saying nothing.

A door closed downstairs. "Girls? Don't be doing something naughty!" Cas shouted from down stairs.

"Ha ha ha! _Very_ funny Aunt Cas!" Nix shouted back, coming over to take me out of the room. "We were just in my kandi room." She said, shutting the door behind us.

"I see." She said loudly as we started down the stairs. Nix shook her head, her hand closing around mine. It wasn't until we got to the last round of stairs did anything happen.

Nix started to cough, her hand jerking out of mine as she covered her mouth. Cas and Sage were at the bottom of the stairs in a heartbeat, Cas coming up to where Nix had doubled over, still coughing.

She brushed my hands genty away from Nix and helped her down the rest of the stairs, rushing her away. I stood there, confused, until Sage came up to where I'd been left. "It's okay. Nixi had really bad asthma when we were kids. When she finally moved in with me and Aunt Cas here, Aunt Cas started treating it. She still has fit sometimes though." Sage shrugged, leading me down to the kitchen.

There was still loud coughing come from somewhere on the first floor. I looked at Sage as she started to put things away. "Is she okay?" I asked, worried about how bad the coughs had gotten.

"She'll be okay in a couple minutes. Don't worry too much about it. She doesn't like when we make a big deal out of it." I nodded, something telling me in my gut that she was lying.


	20. TWENTY

Sage had finished putting the groceries and party supplies away and I was listening to her play the piano in the sitting room across the hall from the living room by the time Nix and Cas came to stand in the doorway.

Nix was a little pale, but she smiled at me and went over to the side of the piano, leaning between it and the wall. She pulled out a violin case and popped it open.

From it, she pulled out a shiny, dark wooded violin and a matching bow. She and Sage shared a look and Sage played a single key as Nix tuned the violin to the piano. Once she was ready, she nodded to the youger, who flexed her wrists and popped her knuckles.

Cas sat next to me, crossing her ankels and placing her hands on her knees. She leaned close to me. "You're in for a treat." She said softly.

Nix started, the sound beautiful. Sage answered her on the piano and the two sounds seemed to be dueling and dancing at the same time, the song they created together the most amazing piece I'd ever heard.

It went on with them shooting each other cocky smirks and smiles for three minutes until Sage hit a wrong note, her fingers slamming the keys as she stopped suddenly. Cas clapped and laughed. "Don't worry Sage, you'll beat her some day." She said, her voice compassionate.

I sat there in a daze. _These_ were the people that this little community was terrorfied of and hated to the brink of no return?! These wonderful, amazing, talented girls? It wasn't until something soft touched my cheek did I realize I was crying.

Sage had started playing something else that made Nix roll her eyes and nod. Then, making my jaw drop, Nix started to sing. I don't know what she was singing, but it was so amazingly beautiful that Cas just put the tissue in my hand and let the tears roll down my cheeks.

By the time it was over, I was a sniffling mess. Nix sat next to Sage and grinned at me, winking. Sage started to play a different song one one half of the piano for a moment.

Nix joined her, and they started to answer each other in different keys until Nix started to play by herself. Sage joined in, her fingers going crazy over the keys, trailing into Nix's half, making them both laugh and stop.

"Okay girls, enough showing off!" Cas stood up easily, towering over me. "We still have a lot of preperations to do for Samhain." She looked at me. "Would you like to help? Nothing too crazy. And you don't have to." She smiled softly at me.

"S-sure." I sniffed. Nix came over and took my hands, helping me to my feet. She smiled sweetly at me.


End file.
